JERUSALEM  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has closed roads leading to a West Bank site in preparation to evacuate Palestinians who pitched tents there to protest plans to build a Jewish settlement.

Netanyahu’s office said Saturday the state is petitioning the Supreme Court to rescind an earlier injunction blocking the evacuation.

In the meantime, he ordered the area declared a closed military zone and shut off access.

Palestinian activists erected tents in the area known as E-1 on Friday saying they wanted to “establish facts on the ground” to stop settlement building.

Critics said E-1 would be a major blow to Palestinian statehood hopes as it blocks east Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland. Palestinian want these areas, along with Gaza, for the future state.